Rider Education Program Created in Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, OK ... Late Tuesday, June 8, Governor Frank
Keating signed House Bill 1474 creating a "Motorcycle Safety
and Education Program" within the Oklahoma Department of
Public Safety. The new law provides for the appointment of an
"advisory committee" with specific qualifications for
appointees and a waiver of the "driving" portion of
motorcycle operator's license test for program graduates. The
law also establishes a "revolving fund" to which administration
and operation costs may be charged. The law does not provide for
any public money to be deposited in this fund, however.

An amendment by Representative Tim Pope (R-Mustang) to charge
an additional ten dollars in "court costs" to DWI offenders
to be transferred to the Rider Education Fund was included in
the conference report. Senator Jerry Smith (R-Tulsa), whose wife
serves as Tulsa County Clerk, happened to be aware of and pointed
out that the Appellate Court had declared that "court charges
cannot be used outside the judicial system." In an effort
to salvage the bill, the Senate allowed the authors to re-submit
the conference report without that amendment.

The bill was drafted originally in 1991 through the efforts
of Ron Shepard of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) and Don
Browning, Oklahoma City Police Officer and MSF Chief Instructor,
and leaders of ABATE of Oklahoma, the local "grass-roots"
lobbying organization dedicated to the interests of motorcyclists.
ABATE earned the respect of legislators five years ago when they
successfully lobbied against a federally mandated motorcycle helmet
use law that was supposed to be a "done deal". Keeping
the helmet law and education issues separated slowed the development
of support for rider education legislation. It also took some
time for riders and state officials alike to realize the value
of a state rider education program.

Holly Swinford, Legislative Liaison for ABATE of Oklahoma,
stated "Funding remains a problem for this program, but we
have something to build on and a vehicle to take advantage of
Highway Safety Program "Section 402 Funds" that will
now be more accessible. We are grateful for our sponsors, House
Transportation Chairman Mike Tyler (D-Tulsa) and Senate Transportation
Chairman Gene Stipe (D-McAlester) and for the wide bi-partisan
support in the legislature." ABATE Safety Officer, Paul Brinker,
added, "The next step will be to assemble the advisory committee
to formulate a program plan and look for a method to channel funds
saved by accident reduction into the rider education fund."

Senator Stipe was the original sponsor of the helmet use bill
that was defeated by an intense last minute lobbying effort by
ABATE of OK in 1994 and this year he used his influence as the
most experienced (51 years) state legislator in the nation to
help bikers. Charlie Williams, ABATE Communications Director said,
"Senator Stipe's help on this issue was refreshing for those
experienced grass-roots lobbyists among us who have come to expect
less than the best in terms of integrity in today's political
arena. It is a credit to the character of both the legislators
and the ABATE lobbyists that the public interest was valued above
concern over past conflicts."

MRF Vice-President of Government Relations, Steve Zimmer, pointed
out that Oklahoma is the 47th state to recognize the value of
rider education with enabling legislation. Such programs are largely
credited with reduction of motorcycle crash fatalities by more
than half over the last two decades. He credited grass-roots political
groups such as ABATE of OK as the driving force in the growth
of rider education. Zimmer stated, "We continue to be dismayed
with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA)
emphasis on helmet laws which have consistently failed to produce
such results even when they were enforced in 47 states."